Oscars preview

By: Dylan Frazier

Email: frazierd@findlay.edu

The Oscar’s are finally here and on Sunday, they will give out the award for best picture. Here are the nominees and how a quick review on each movie.

 BlacKkKlansman

Spike Lee’s latest project, BlacKkKlansman tackles the idea of race and police brutality in the 1970s. Detective Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is a young, African-American cop in the late 70s who is trying to infiltrate The Ku Klux Klan in Colorado. He, along with Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), a white, Jewish cop, slowly begin to learn more and more about the Klan. Washington and Driver, in their scenes together, were great and I could tell there was great chemistry there. For being a movie that tackled so many issues that were pretty touchy and heavy, Driver and Washington were very funny on screen and it helped keep the movie going. Not to mention the soundtrack in this movie was probably my favorite of the year. The only issue I really have with this movie is that some of it was made up, as confirmed by the real Ron Stallworth. But it is still an excellent movie that should definitely win some awards.

 

Black Panther

Wakanda Forever! Black Panther follows the story of King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and the aftermath of what took place in Captain America: Civil War. While it may seem like being the king is the best, T’Challa soon learns it’s not easy. This one has been debated heavily on whether it should have been nominated at all because it is a superhero movie. While that argument is warranted, the cultural impact cannot be matched by any other movie that came out last year. Black Panther is a very, very important movie to African-American culture because they finally have representation in the superhero world. To have a predominantly black cast in a movie and do this well is great for the future of cinema. But let’s not forget about the story, because it was great, too. This is a movie that all should see because on top of being a great film, it is a very important film.

 

Bohemian Rhapsody

Out of all the movies that have been nominated for the Best Picture, this is by far the worst nominee. Bohemian Rhapsody is the bio-pic about Freddie Mercury and the band, Queen. While this wasn’t a terrible movie, I really do not think this should have been nominated. Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury was pretty incredible, and I am guessing he is the favorite to win Best Actor, but the rest of the movie is sort of “meh”. It just isn’t accurate at all and it does a disservice to Mercury’s legacy. They made it seem like Mercury was the reason the band broke up, but the only issue with that is Queen never broke up. They did take a break but never officially broke up. On top of that, at least to me, they made it seem that all the problems in the band were because Freddie Mercury was gay. But if you can get past those issues, the movie is at least enjoyable, but it is not Oscar worthy.

 

The Favourite

Personally, this was the most surprising film to be nominated but in a good way. The Favourite is about England in times of war against the French. While that may sound boring to some, this movie is anything but boring. It was one of the funnier movies to come out last year. It was very, very dark and it shows how much people are willing to do for even a little bit of power. It follows the story of two cousins, Sarah and Abigail (Rachel Weiss and Emma Stone), trying to become Queen Anne’s favorite servant. This movie is just something that was surprisingly great, and Emma Stone was phenomenal in this movie. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wins Best Supporting Actress on Sunday.

 

 

Green Book

I think this movie was turned out to be one of my favorites to come out last year. Green Book follows the friendship between Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen) and Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) on their trip through the south in the 1960s. Those two are why I loved the movie so much; their chemistry was probably the best out of any movie nominated. It felt genuine and real, which says a lot about the kind of actors those two are. But what makes it great was how it tackled issues like segregation and racial tensions but did it in a way that didn’t make it feel slow. They used comedy to keep the movie going but at the same time keeping the issues in the forefront as well. I think this is one of those movies that anyone can see and leave the theater smiling because even though it touches issues that aren’t one that induce a smile, the way they wrap up the movie is great.

 

Roma

The time has finally come, a movie from Netflix has been nominated for best picture. Who would have thought that could happen even five years ago? Roma follows the life of a Mexican maid, Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), as she makes her way through the early 70s. Out of all of the movies to be nominated this year, I have to say it is the most unique movie that was made. First off, the entire movie is in black and white, and was spoken only in Spanish. I am not one for foreign films all that much, but I really enjoyed this movie. This is by far the best Netflix Original film I have ever seen.  It did an excellent job of tackling social inequality along with political issues. The nice thing is that is on Netflix, so if you can find time, watch this movie but take note it is very sad and extremely believable.

 

A Star is Born

In Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut, he hits the mark in nearly all of this movie. Jackson Maine (Cooper) is a depressed, pill-addicted, alcoholic musician who meets Ally (Lady Gaga). Things start out great but become much worse for the two. The music is great, the acting is great, and the story is very real. Those two on screen together was something very special and I hope this isn’t the last time they work together on a film. Not to mention Sam Elliot in this movie, who played Jackson’s brother, Bobby. In the very few scenes Bobby was in the movie, he provided some of the most tear-jerking scenes and I’m glad Elliot was nominated for best supporting role. If you haven’t seen this yet, go see it because anyone can enjoy this movie.

 

Vice

Another very divisive film, much like Bohemian Rhapsody, but Vice did it well enough to deserve the nomination, which I personally don’t think Bohemian Rhapsody did. Vice follows the life of Dick Cheney (Christian Bale) and his rise to power inside the Republican Party. For something like politics, which is rather boring to most people, Adam McKay tells the story about Cheney in such an entertaining way that it is very easy to watch. It was a pretty funny movie surprisingly and it infused comedy to explain all the politics in the movie. Christian Bale was nothing short of amazing in this movie and sometimes I forgot it was him acting and not actually Dick Cheney. Again, I recognize that this movie is not for everyone but if you can, see it because it is very important. I mean, all this stuff happened!

 

 

 

WHAT DO I THINK SHOULD WIN:BlacKkKlansman. Just a good film that is a good blend of everything. Loved everything about it but I just don’t see it winning.

 

WHAT WILL WIN:Roma. It has a lot of steam going into Sunday and has won the most awards this year. I’m guessing Alfonso Cuarón, the director of the film, wins best director as well. This movie is very deserving of any award it may win come Sunday.

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